Orange County mayoral candidate Matthew Falconer owes $64,000 in delinquent property taxes to Osceola and Lee counties, records show, but the commercial real-estate investor said Friday he was unaware of any unpaid tax bills.

"If there is a problem, this is the first I've heard of it," said Falconer, adding that bank lenders and his office handle "hundreds of mortgage and tax payments" for him each year. "We'll check into it."

The properties in question are a Vine Street strip mall in Kissimmee assessed at $1.7 million in 2009, with $42,853 in taxes owed, and vacant land in Fort Myers assessed at $1.1 million, with $21,122 owed in 2009 taxes.

Falconer, who has campaigned on the promise of fiscal conservatism, drew fire from opponent Teresa Jacobs, who asked if heis "really running because he cares about public service or because he needs a job?"

The questions about Falconer's finances emerged Friday amid the final run of campaigning for Central Florida's most powerful office.

Falconer faces fellow Republican Jacobs, and Democratic Commissioners Linda Stewart and Bill Segal in Tuesday's nonpartisan primary. If no candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two finishers would go on to a Nov. 2 run-off.

Falconer, Jacobs and Segal took part in a candidates' forum Friday at the downtown Citrus Club that Stewart did not attend. Segal and Stewart declined to comment on Falconer's tax bill.

No outside groups or candidates can afford — or have been willing to reveal — polling for the race, leaving a sense among political experts that the top two slots were still up for grabs.

"I really can not predict any of this," said county GOP party Chairman Lew Oliver.

Much of the late jockeying involved attack ads or efforts by third-party groups backing Segal.

For instance, Segal blasted Stewart in his ads for proposing a nickel gas tax hike to help pay for the Lynx bus system. And later, a third-party group called Concerned Citizens of Orange County sent out mailers that referred to a 2003 quote where Stewart said such a hike "can't be that bad."

Stewart said gasoline was less than $2 a gallon at the time of the quote, and that Segal backed sales tax hike for transportation that year. "I don't think it has hurt me, but we don't even know who's behind it," she said.

Concerned Citizens is led by a Cory Jones, a Segal fundraiser, and county records show it raised $39,000 in five days. Most of that cash came from real-estate interests, such as $5,000 from Westgate Resorts, a timeshare company owned by David Siegel.

The same group made recorded calls to voters telling them Jacobs was a lobbyist with a conflict of interest issue with her current employer, Tindale-Oliver & Associates. The company was awarded a 2005 contract that all commissioners voted for then, including Segal and Jacobs.

Segal's camp has said it was inappropriate for Jacobs to later go to work for the company. Segal spokesman Josh Wilson said the company's website initially touted Jacobs' political skills as justification for labeling her a lobbyist.

"If a lobbyist is not one who uses political skills, then who does?" said Wilson.

But Jacobs said there is no conflict, andshe actually works as an analyst for Tindale. She called the ads "desperate."

For her part, Jacobs dubbed Segal and Falconer the "Dangerous Duo" in a mailer, criticizing Segal's attendance at men-only parties co-organized by a lobbyist, and for his failure to disclose business partners and voting conflicts. The ad chides Falconer for failing to release tax records, for rarely voting and for leaving the debt his businesses carry largely off his financial disclosure forms.

In the final tally, Jacobs raised $217,000 for the primary, spending $180,000, records show. Stewart raised $140,000, and spent $134,000. Falconer's totals were not available, but he's run a self-financed campaign.

Segal raised more than all of his foes combined: $775,000, with all but $34,000 of it spent in the primary. Another pro-Segal group, the Coalition for Excellence in Regional Leadership, raised $91,050 in the final weeks, for a total of $155,550. Universal Orlando Resort ($10,000) and SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment ($7,000) were among the bigger late contributors.